News

5 Minutes with Chad Reed

What were your reasons behind becoming involved in this series?
I’m just trying to help put Australia back on the map for supercross as its been slowly going downhill for some time. I competed in a race last year in my hometown of Newcastle and it opened my eyes as to how much people over here love watching us and what we do. But the problem was that nobody was out there trying to help. It seemed to all happen at once though, with myself and Mike meeting up and working something out that we can both be proud to be involved with.
Do you feel a series like this can be successful in the U.K. and Europe?
Well what makes it easy for us here is that the U.S supercross season runs January through May and every motocross series runs May through September be it U.S, World or even Australian. So it’s real difficult to fit anything in that time, but we are blessed with living south of the equator and its summer time here. I don’t think it would be possible to go to Europe and race a real series like this due to weather conditions at this time of year. But its still yes and no, I mean the French have a great series with a lot of fun off-season races. Bercy for example is amazing I love that race and even though I haven’t been iv'e heard Sheffield is great. But more so I think this Australian series could be a huge stepping-stone for a lot of European riders. Guys like Carioli are hugely talented riders but I think they should be here trying to learn the ropes. We have the same tracks, the riders here are competitive but not quite at the U.S level so its like I said a great stepping stone. When I was 18 and left Australia I progressed to Europe before the U.S and took it step by step. But I think for the European riders to go straight from home to the U.S is hard. The Americans are great at supercross and the Europeans really lack that experience. So I welcome them here, I really think this is a good series for them.
How do you think the race formats have worked out?
To be honest I have a love hate relationship with them. Some of the sprint formats with say five lap races, its intense. You get a bad start and really have to work hard and fast to get up there and its real entertaining. As for things like the man on man format, I hated it. I mean two riders, two laps. That’s not racing it’s 100% entertainment and zero racing which I disagree with.
How do the tracks compare to the U.S?
The tracks have been good, they are a lot of fun. They have averaged about 10seconds shorter but other than that they are doing really well. To be in Australia and to see tracks like this with the standard and presentation, we have come a long way even in comparison to what we had a year ago.
Have you found these races may help you in preparing for the upcoming AMA series?
I think so, I really feel that my riding is coming around. I really feel on top of it. Each week I feel good and with the series schedule and race format it has really helped keep my intensity up there. So although I haven’t enjoyed some of the shorter formats it’s been a real good workout and good for my racing. I get to do a lot of starts and yes overall it has definitely been good practice for the American series.
Do you believe a series like this and you participating in it will help lift the level of competition here in Australia?
I think so, I look at Jay Marmont and he rode great beating me on one occasion. Having Jeremy McGrath here for the last two rounds was awesome also and it helps push everyone along. Also look at some of the lites guys making it in to the top 10 shootout consistently and the future is starting to look promising.
Any plans to race outdoors here in Oz or the U.S?
Not in Australia, the U.S that’s a hard one to answer. I can if I want to but it really comes down to me doing some soul searching and seeing what I want to do. I have some opportunities with Toyota to do some really amazing things in Australia with rally, trophy truck and Aussie racecars. Sometimes you have to look out for your own best interests and eventually this will all come to an end and I want to go racing four wheels. But on the flipside I have some unfinished business with motocross and I feel i'm on the best team and bike and have a good shot at the title even with Bubba there. So we will see, it will be kind of like a game day decision. We’ll see how supercross goes and see where my heads at.
How long do you plan to keep racing?
I’ve always said I wanted to be done by the time i’m 30, i’m 26 now so it kind of leaves me three years to go. I’m 27 next year so we will see where I end up.

Updated on 17/12/2008